1.

Read the following case study and answer the given questions:
IT Company is a large multinational corporation that has more than 100 years of history, a
global workforce of more than 100, 000 employees and is headquartered in the USa. Up until
the early 1990s, the corporation was structured around geographical areas, each of which
was afforded relatively powerful independence. So, for example, the UK headquarters in
London had high decision- making autonomy in relation to the US headquarters in Paris. One
outcome of this is so- called area structure was that hardly any global HR policies existed, so
that HR practices in areas such as pay, training and flextime differed widely between
countries. Nevertheless, a strong corporate culture ensured that some core values applied
throughout the organization. For example, since its foundation IT Company has been known
for its strong anti- union stance. Combined with an emphasis on sophisticated and innovative
HR policies, the parent company has been able to defeat several recognition campaigns by
trade unions. The same has happened in the UK, where local management prided itself on
defeating a strong union recognition campaign in the 1970s. However, in other countries IT
company does recognize trade unions. For example, the German subsidiary has a powerful
body of elected representatives (as encouraged by German law), some of whom are trade
union members, who have a strong say in any decisions affecting the workforce. Up to the
early 1990s the company also participated in industry- wide bargaining which determined pay
and conditions for the large majority of its workforce.
In the early 1990s, IT Company- which had enjoyed a near monopoly status in its markets
until then- encountered economic problems due to the business strategy and the
organizational structure. In particular, the decision- making authority of local managers was
reduced and responsibility transferred to regional headquarters such as Paris and to the US
headquarters. Furthermore, the company was structured around business units, each
responsible for a certain range of products such as printers or IT solutions. Business units
were encouraged to standardize management functions such as finance, marketing and
human resources as far as possible on a worldwide basis.
Answer the following questions:
a. You are in charge of HR for the global business unit printer of IT Company which has
production and distribution organizations in almost 100 countries. Which HR practices
would you standardize on a global basis?
b. How would you ensure that global policies are implemented by the subsidiaries?